r 



if 



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E 549 \ 

.P65 



CONCERNING SOME EFFECTS OF THb 



LATJi; CIVIL AVAli 



ON 



#i:di^ia^tii:al lEallni 



IN KENT CCK Y. 



Pelivered in the Ilall uf the L'lly Library, Lexingtui], Rcntuckj, on 



Sunday, ?^o^e5nber loth, 1866. 



(f^l 



BY K U FINKEKTON, M.D. 



CI NX'] NN ATI: 

A. MOOBK, BOOK AND JOB I'KIM'DK, •„'■'.") WALNIT STHKF/r, 

I860'. 



V '-' 



To the memory of Marahall Headly, late of AUendile, JeGsamiue countj-, 
Kentucky, I dedicate the following discourse. Between him and the writer 
there was a substantial agreement on all the great issues of the civil war 
and especially on the subjects treated in the address, which were often and, 
anxiously discussed, during the last year of his life. 

A thoughtful man, but never in haste to speak, lie incessantly pondered 
in his heart the great issues of the terrible conflict, and though sorrowful al- 
ways, and at times desponding, he never faltered in stern loyalty to his gov- 
ernment, nor to his race ; or in fealty to his Saviour. 

Of ample fortune, yet despising the social consideration which men are too 
apt to claim on that ground alone, he was, to the last, the friend and intimate 
companion of the poorest of men. 

Making no pretension to learning, his knowledge of men, of society, and of 
all the graver alfairs of humin life, was wide, intimate. and accurate. His 
hibitof uttering the most matured opinions in the interrogative form, as 
though he would inquire rather than affirm, did not conceal from his intimate 
friends, his just confidence in the general correctness of the conclusions he 
had reached. 

In the constant exercise of a most generous hospitality, and though in the 
Fifty-ninth year of his age, he had the happy faculty of making himself 
agreeable to the young of both sexes, and his usuilly quiet, country home, 
was, for them, a chosen )>laceof gathering. Alas ! we shall see him on earth 
no more. At a lime when we expected it not — in July, ISOO. the Destroyer 
came, and our cherished, most constant friend passcl away. 

Our sorrows may be soothed by the fiim belief that another tired spirit has 
found rest in heaven, and we may seek to assuage our grief by the hope of 
meeting him there, when the dream of life is piist ; but we shall not think of 
our great loss without sighing, nor cease to ieel tliat for our riven hearts 
j4ici-y is no perfect healing this side the tomb. 

, /l^irewell '•Marshall." The remains of men have been followed to the 
grave by more weepers ihan I'oUowe.l tliinc, but none by truer, sadder hearts, 
and of those bleeding hearts, few vrcvc more hopelessly crushed thau was 
his, who now lays this humble, but tear-hallowcd tribute of affection on thy 
giavc. 



The style of the Ibllowing discoiu'se is obnoxious to criti- 
cisiii, which, however, is not particularly deprecated. Grace- 
ful utterance was not to be thoui^ht of, had the writer pos- 
sessed taste and talent for it. The aim of the discourse re- 
quired that the argument should be brief and its applications 
numerous and direct. Allusions to local circumstances were 
indispensable. Indeed, the utility of the discourse, if it shall 
prove to be of any, depends upon these allusions, although 
they can scarcely be intelligible to those not acquainted with 
the course of religious events in Kentucky, during and since 
the close of the late civil war. 

It is known to all, that early in the year 180'>, a large por- 
tion of the slave-holding element in the " loyal party " of 
Jventucky, dissented so far from the "policy of the Admii \- 
tration in regard to slavery,'' that they deemed it expedient 
to denounce the government oi)enly, and even furiously. In 
ordinar^^ times, thoughtful men find no difficulty in discrimi- 
nating between a government, and any existing administra- 
tion of that government, but in the actual state of aflairs in 
Kentuck}^ in 1803, such discrimination y^^';^ praGtically impos- 
sible. Men can not walk a slack-rope in the midst of a hur- 
ricane. It is believed that every candid and enlightened 
"rebel" will admit, that this class of "union men," was, in 
<\f*'ct^ co-operants of the insurgents, from the beginning of 
the year iSGo, till the close of the war. Many, certainly, did 
not intend this result, while others, as was natural, threw oti" 
all pretense of "loyalty," and became avowed "rebels." 
i\ow 1 wish to say most distinctly, that though 1 tlunk many 
of these "Union men" committed a serious blunder, 1 have 
no harsher word to say of them. 

A very earnest desire has been entertninod not to give 
oflense to any sincere, well-meaning persons, who may he in- 
cluded in the classes deemed censurable for complicity in the 
gravest crimes. Possibly, however, alter all the care that 



4 

could be bestowed m Hint direction, some expressions may 
))e found, that had better been omitted. It is possible too, 
that almost unconsciously, I may have lelt something border- 
ing on resentment towards those who have, during almost six 
years, malevolently and persistently misrepresented my senti- 
inents, misinterpreted my actions, and invented and circulated 
the most scandalous falsehoods, to my great injury. I have 
endeavored to hold in abeyance eveiy remembrance of^:>(9?'- 
sonal wrong endured, and every sentiment of indignation ; 
and if 1 have not succeeded fully, those will be readiest to 
forgive, whose nol^leness of nature renders them tit to appre- 
ciate the ditliculty of such a preformance. 

Having tried to be iaithful to my country in the hour ot her 
calamity, having endeavored to do what appeared to be my 
duty toward the colored race, having sought to be true to the 
teachings ol the Bible, and to what I thought to be the 
"great principles of the Reformation,'' I stand in the midst of 
relentless enemies, undismayed, determined to do and dare 
to the last. The fight with frost and famine, daily growing 
more urgent, is far preferable to the surrender of truths, on 
the snpport of winch, as it seems to me, depends the exist- 
ence of our civilization, and the progress of mankind. 

II' those Christians who agree with me in the importance 
of the principles contended for, shall yet prefer to give aid to 
those wlio have practically denied and deserted those princi- 
ples, they will l)ut iuniish another sad illustration of the 
weakness and inconsistency of winch men are capable. " h\ 
Uod we trnst," 

Deopmhev 'Wih. ISOf;. 



DISCO IT RSE 



"'^I'lndi failpth, mill lip tliat (lp|iaitpt]i from ovil malretli liiiuseif 
a prey ; and the Lmd saw it, and it ilisjdca-^ed liini that tliPie was 
no judgment." — Isaiah, liv. l.'i. 

Tnitli, eternal ami Jiviiie trulli, is, indeed, Ihe pearl ni o-reat 
priee. I( is the only food ordained ol Heaven for tlie sn^^len- 
ance and growth of the imniortal mind. Falsehood and 
error are essentially negative ; they are and yet are not, and 
shall nKiniately go into perdition. 

Tlie love ol {rwth for //'.^ oinn .'^ahe — truth in respect of every- 
thing which is a subject oC human thought, or that in any way 
connects itself with the alftirs and lortunes of the humnn race, 
we may safely regard as among the duel' evidences of spiri- 
tual enfranchisement. They in whom abides evermore a su- 
preme and trembling reverence for truth, have, we may l>e 
assured, passed Irom death unto lile. On the other hand, we 
might infer, even in the absence ot specific Bible teaching, 
that he who disregards truth, is not of God. By truth is not 
here meant religious or theological truth exclusively, but any 
and all truth. 

It is quite possible for any man to mistake his way i'^ 
seeking after truth, even when the search is conducted 
earnestly and witii entire singleness of aim. This should sug- 
gest caution, deliber ation, padence, in the prosecution ol our 
iiKtuiries; the ho Iding in abeyance of all selfish, partizan pur- 
poses and aims ; and, except in cases wdiich admit of demon- 
stration, or which appeal directly to the moral intuitions, our 
liability to error, will justify diffidence, and condemn dogmat- 
ism, with res])ect to the results of our investigations. iMof 
withstanding liability to error, and admitting whatever char- 



ities and iDi'oprieties the fact may demand, still, there are 
truths about which, among sane people, there can be no 
difference of opinion; and it is the observance and the advc- 
cacy of these truths that determine a mari's moral status. The 
man, for instance, who would seriously question the equity of 
the '-Golden Rule" — "Whatever you would that men should 
do to you, do ye even so to them,"is simply an idiot or a knave. 
It has been truly observed by a distinguished writer, that for 
us, for all men, there exist ineradicable distinctions among 
things, as good and bad, right and wrong, true and false. We 
can not rid ourselves of the conviction that these distinctions 
are not conventional, but real, and that our characters ought to 
be determined by means of these distinctions. The man who 
is not irue fo /us own, convictions of what is good and right 
and true, is himself a falsehood in God's universe, let 
liis ipretensions be what they may, and in his own con- 
sciousness, he is aware of tho humiliating fact. He who is 
false to his convictions of truth and right, is false utterly, and 
puts out the light that is in him ; and we all of us know who 
uttered the fearful words, — "If the light that is in you be 
darkness, how great is that darkness !"' The immense import- 
ance of this subject — its fundamental relation to pure morals 
and true religion, and to the true and lioped-lor social state, 
must be 1113'" apology for dwelling upon it. Let us then api)eal 
to the sacred Scriptures. 

'•Because they received not ilie, lovp, of the truth, Ihat tliey 
might be saved, God shall send them strong delusion that 
they should believe a lie, that they all might bo damned, who 
believed not the truth, but hal pleasure in unrighteousness." 
1> Thes., ii 10, 11. 

This is a terrible declaration, my brethren, instinct with the 
wrath ot God. I have no time for its unfolding and applica- 
tion, but we may be assured that in this matter of trutli, God 
will not be trifled with ; and he Mho sets himself to oppose 
what, in his heart, he knows to be right and true, will end by 
believing a lie. Nor does this takeph^ce by the interposition 
of miracle, but in strict harmony with the laws of our intel- 
lectual and moral nature. 



Among the qualifications for standing before God in Mount 
Zion, is this; that a man shall "speak the tiuth in his heart ;" 
that is, he shall be unwaveringly true to his convictions. 
Psalmn 15. The Savior of the world, who came forth from the 
I)osom of tlie Father, declares himself to be the way and 
the truth and the life ; while, on the other Iiand, he says of 
the great adversary, the Devil, that "he was a murderer from 
the beginning and abode not in the truth, because tiiere is no 
truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for 
he is a liar and the father of it." John, viii, 44. "Wiioevcr 
loves or makes a lie," is classed by the Holy Spirit with the 
most abominable characters known on earth or in hell ; and 
finally, the Scriptures declare that " all liars shall have their 
])art in the lake that burns with lire and brimstone, which is 
tiio second death." 

1 have thought it well, on many accounts, to refer to these 
declarations of God's word ; and surely in view of these, to 
which we might add indefinitely, it becomes every one to 
seek the truth Avith his whole heart, and to abide m it ; to 
" bu}^ the truth and sell it not," while he shuns falsehood, as 
he would shun the gates of hell. Do we judge harshly in 
supposing that these times of ours render the reference we 
have made to the Bible, specially appropriate':? Are men now, 
generally seeking the truth, or what they suppose to be then- 
private interests 'i: Do the.y demand, even m the church, sin- 
cerity and honesty, or acquiescence !? 

1 shall continue to assume, m this adtlress, that the Bible 
is true in its own sense ; that is to sa.y, it contains a revela- 
tion ot God's will concerning the human race ; that this will 
is the highest law to every human being to whom it comes, 
and that ignorance or disregard of it, so far at least as dut}' is 
involved, is fatal. No Christian will question the supreme obli- 
gation ot every one to use all diligence to ascertain the exact 
meaning of God's law; nor will any one doubt that habitual, 
persistent disregard of its teachings, involves infinite peril. 
We may add, that ingenious perversions of the sacred Scrip- 
fures,or sophistical evasions of their obvious import, is of the 
very quintessence of sin. Indeed, we judge that it would be 
every way better to remain in wilful ignorance of God's word, 
or knowing its teachings, boldly to disregard and defy them, 
than to attempt to make Jehovah a copartner in our sins, by 
so wresting his revelation as to make it testify in favor of 
iniquity. 

An additional remark must be allowed, even if it should bo 
ranked among pulpit platitudes. No man can afford to incur 
the wrath of Almighty God, because no man can aford to 



8 

lose his soul. Any thing thai can be achieved or imagined 
is preterable to this. It is the consummation of all possible 
calamities. Death by slow fire or lingering starvation, would 
be agreeable entertainment compared with an abode in " outer 
darkness where the worm dietli not, and the fire is not quench- 
ed." "Fear not them," said Jesus, " who can kill the body, but 
after that can do no more, but fear him who, having killed 
tlie body, can destroy both soul and body in hell ; yea, I say 
unto you, fear him. It is a fearlul thing to fall into the 
hands of the living God." On the other hand, all of honor 
and glory and bliss and blessdeness, that is possible to a finite 
being, shall be given of God to him Avho abides in the truth. 
Hence, to accept heartily the divine teaching, and to follow it 
at all costs, even unto death, is not mearly duty, religion, it 
is sound discretion as well. If the expression may be allowed 
'•it pays" infinitely, and this alone, of all the enterprises in 
which one can engage m this world does "pay." To all who 
fail in fealty to truth and to God, life will, ac the last, prove 
an infinite misfortune — it "were better for such had thev 
never been born." We would thus indicate the spirit and 
temper m which our investigations are to be this day con- 
ducted. 

Why, then, are we here to day '^ We are here to bear wit- 
ness to the truth — we are here to do and to sufl'er, if need be, 
for the word of God, and thp testimony of Jesus; we are here 
because God's people have sinned greviously without rebuke, 
because they have participated in, connived at, and applauded 
the most monstrous crimes known to the laws of God and to 
the laws of man — we are here to discharge our most solemn 
duties to our brethren, to our country, and to our race, the 
whole being our bounden duty to Him who gave himself a 
ransom for our forfeited souls. We neither intend nor invite 
scliism, but we intend to assert and to enjoy our inalienable 
rights, Avhether as citizens of the state, or of the kingdom of 
God. We intend to exercise our right to announce the loliolc 
counsel of God, as His infinite providence may open lor us a 
door of utterance. 

For the present, Ave have no Judgement to pronounce upon 
those without the pale of the church. As a public teacher of 
religion, we have nothing to say of them, at any time, but to 
preach to them as we may be able, "the glorious gospel of 
the blessed (Jod." To the church, our mission is dilTerenl. 
Here, we are to reprove, rebuke and exhort, with all long- 
siifi'ering, when in our convictions, it becomes our duty so to 
do ; nor dare we employ craftiness, nor " handle the word of 
God deceitfully." We may remark further, that our j^resent 



9 

business is with that church of which the speaker has been a 
member for more than thirty-six yeart — for more than twenty- 
eight, a public minister. What cause we may have lor protest, 
for rebuke, for reproof, are now to be brieflj' stated and argued. 
No precepts of the Bible are plainer or more explicit than 
these, nameh'-: "That Christians shall obey magistrates ; that 
they shall submit themselves to the regularly constituted 
civil authorities of the countries in which they may reside, 
whatever may be the forms in which that authority shall be 
expressed. "Whoever resisteth the civil power, resisteth 
the ordinance of GocU and they that resist shall receive to them- 
selves damnation.-' Civil ov political rulers are God's minis- 
ters. Romans xiii. We intend no elaborate argument — it is 
not called lor. The Christian who, as such, denies his obliga- 
tion to obey the Civil rulers of his country, would deny 
liis obligation to pay his debts. When the civil author- 
ities contravene the aulhoriiy of Heaven, it is not questioned 
that the latter is to be obeyed. No such emergency having 
arisen in this country, this phase of the general subject is not 
now under discussion ; nor are we now required to discuss 
the right of Christian men to rebel against despotic rulers. It 
will be time enough to discuss the latter subject when a ne- 
cessity for it shall arise. We but express, however, the uni- 
versal sense of the civilized world in saying, that armed rev- 
olution or insurrection is always an extreme, even a desperate 
remedy for political evils, and can not be lawfully resorted to 
till all peaceful meaus of redress shall have been tried with- 
out efliect. But in a government shaped and directed by 
constitutional majorities, and who80 organic laio provides for 
its own change hy such majorities, all pretext for insurrection 
is barred wholly and forever. Insurrection, under such state 
of case is utterly inexcusable, wanton and wicked. Now, we 
charge lirst, that just such an insurrection did thousands of 
Christian people in Kentucky raise, prosecute, and encourage 
against the lawful " powers ■' of the United States, and against 
the direct authority of Jesus Christ, commanding them to be 
subject to these very powers "for conscience sake." Romans 
xiii, 5. 

We charge, in the second place, that these erring people of 
Cod, prosecuted this insurrection for a period ol four terrible 
years, and that they signalized the revolt by deeds of unpar- 
alelled atrocity — of more than barbaric cruelty. Almost every 
crime known to the Decalogue was committed to an appalling 
extent, as a direct consequence of the war, and all of which is 
to be charged to those who instigated, encouraged or approv- 
ed the revolt 



10 

We do not purpose to recite the events of 1S60 in proof of' 
the utter wickedness of" our late rebellion ; hut we believe 
it susceptible of the clearest and most overwhelming proof 
that a more reckless and inexcusable insurrection against a 
benignaut ani free government, or agamst any government, 
has not been waged since the making ol the world. Even if 
we allow the assigned reason for the rebellion to have existed 
namely, that the perpetuity and extension of African slavery 
were menaced by the majority of the nation, the reason itself 
is of so questionable a character as might well cause a Chris- 
tian to pause long and prayerfully ere he called to arms. 
What was African Slavery in the United States, that Christians 
should rush into war in its support? Were its indefinite dura- 
tion nnd extension to be desired? Was the natiiral right oi^we 
hundred thousand white men to compel and to appropriate 
the labor of four millions of black men, quite clear to Christ's 
disciples ? Were the xmavoidahle concomitants of slavery such 
as to commend it to the children of God? Were the ignorance 
and social and moral degradation intrinsically incident to the 
institution, calculated to win the favor of those in wdiom 
dwells the spirit of Christ ? Let the honest man lay his hand 
upon his heart, and with eyes raised to heaven, answer. God 
will one day compel him and all men to answer. But 
even the poor plea lor the rebellion, that slavery was endanger- 
ed by the political events of 1800, can not be allowed ; for 
thousands of those most deeply interested in the perpetuity and 
extension of slavery, and of these, many best able to judge, 
scouted the plea as idle and frivolous. Th refore the insur- 
rection was utterly without justification; lor, if the pretext 
for it was such as a Christian dare avow at the bar of Jesus, 
still, even that pretext was feigned. With candid and well- 
mformed people, it were useless to argue this matter; with 
the ignorant and those reckless of truth, it would be useless. 

But we have said that this insurrection, raised professeply 
for the extension and perpetuation of the bondage of four 
millions of human beings for whom the son of God died — the 
bondage of four millions and their posterity, together with 
all the Ignorance and degradation inseparable from that bon- 
dage — was accompanied by deeds of peculiar and appalling 
atrocity. There were interludes in the awful drama, in har- 
mony with its avowed object, and which served as infallible 
exponents of the chief actors. The subject is an unpleasant 
one at any time, and we have no desire to enter into details. 

We shall instance only the destruction of, at least, twenty 
thousand young men by slow starvation in pens in which, 



11 

even mules would have died by the thousand under like 
treatment; and the deliberate murder, at one time, of several 
hundred prisoners of war, in the most cruel and savage man- 
ner. 

Now, what we demand is, that God's people shall acknowl- 
edge the sin and shame of this unholy insurrection, and that 
they shall denounce the unnecessary and shocking cruelties 
that accompanied it; or, if it can be made to appear that 
both the great parties to the war are alike guilty before God, 
let both be denounced in the name of humanity, in the name 
of religion, in the name of the Lord. That one or the other 
party has feari'ully sinned, none can doubt. Let the erring 
children of God, then, be rebuked and called to repentance, 
and let the word ot the Lord go forth against all ungodliness 
and unrighteousness of men, who hold the trutii in unright- 
eousness. 

So iar, however, are Christian "rebels '' from repentance for 
having levied war against their lawful rulers, that they justify 
themselves in it, — they avow that they did right in the sight 
of God and man. Dare we concede this, even tacitly ? Dare 
we allow that a war of four years duration — a war that has 
alienated friends ; that has made the taking of oaths, to an 
alarming extent, the merest mockery, and perjuries almost as 
numerous as collisions between rebel and loyal interests — • 
that has burdened a nation with an incalculable debt — that 
by enhancing the price of food and fuel and clothing, has 
caused immense privation and suffering among the poor; that 
left general desolation in its trade over large districts of our 
country ; that has left behind it tens of thousands of darkened 
and broken homes, and millions of broken hearts; that has 
scattered hundreds of thousands of maimed and crippled men 
over a continent, and that sent half a million to blood}-- 
graves — can w^e allow, that without incurring terrible guilt, 
such a war may be levied and encouraged by Christ's disciples 
against a beneficent government, and in the interests of human 
bondage ? If so, our notion of sin is a delusion — the gospel 
a cunningly devised flible. 

If we have been able to understand, even to a small extent, 
the relations of the Christian ministry to the church and to 
general society, nay, if we rightly apprehend the providential 
calls of God, then has he made it the special presejit duty of 
his ministers to call his erring people to repentance for their 
participation in the greatest crimes. 8uch is, in our judgment, 
the "burden ''of Kentucky, — the duty of this day, for those 
who stand ]>efore her people in the name of Jesus and lor 
the souls of men. 



12 

That an overwliclming majority of these ministers should 
themselves tacitly, or l»y open avowal, justiiy the great rebel- 
lion in th(^ interests of such an institution, as they knovr 
African slavery to have been, is among the most startling and 
discouraging Ibcts connected with that rebellion. It would 
be pleasant to hope that they luu e been guided in their rea- 
sonings by the spirit of Him who was sent to proclaim liberty 
to the captives; the opening ot the prison doors to them that 
were bound ; to break ciierii yoke, and to proclaim the ac- 
cepted year of the Lord. We should willingly believe that 
these ministers liave not been swayed in their judgments by 
the circumstance that, since the beginning ot the year 1863, 
a very large majority of the wealthy people of Kentucky, the 
slaveholders — have been heartily or virtually on the side of 
insurrection and a divided nation. Most certainly no such 
unanimity among the ministers of our state on any " political " 
question was ever before witnessed. It is remarkable, very 
remarkable. Watchmen! What of the night? With pallid 
lips and batod breath you glide silently about among sins that 
fill the whole earth, and darken the sun and heaven — sins 
that bode the overthrow of government, of church and of civ- 
ilization together. Have you lost faith in God and in your 
own souls? In (he truth of God and in the consciences cf men? 
And if one of your brethren should believe himself moved of 
God to raise his voi(3e against " lawlessness," and in behalf of 
what you knoKi to be the natural, inalienable rights ot man, 
you stand quietly by while the mob cries crucifs'" him ; or 
doubtfully and gravely shaking your reverend heads, you coolly 
question your brother's sanity. But you are prudent, you 
.say. It is, perhaps, well M'heii we can persuade ourselves, 
that what in others would be considered time-serving policy, 
in ourselves, is only Christian prudence. Tilate was '" prudent," 
doubtless, when, awed by popular clamor, and yet stung by 
conscience, he asked of Jesus, " what is frut?},-^ bur waited no 
rep\y. 

" Dis.sobed tlio ronrt and mingled with the throng, 
Asyhnu sad, from reason, hope and heaven." 

But you arc '•{jrudent"' — are you consistent? You can cry 
nlf)ud aiiaiust. [he sin of dancing; you can declaim long and 
earnestly against •'instrumental music in churches:" you can 
"deal danuuition round the land," against good men and 
women, avIio, at the very worst, have only mistaken the mean 
mg of a (ireek word; but for those who commit peijury ; lor 
those who refuse to hear and obey the voice of God in rela- 
Jion to their duties to the civil rulers; for those who perpc- 



13 

trate or applaud the greatest crimes, you have no word of 
rebuke! But you are "prudent'- men. Yes. verily, you are 
prudent, and right well does your prudence pay. 

It becomes siimers, whose onh^ refuge is the mercy of God, 
to judge one another tenderly ; and yet, we are wholly una- 
ble to see any thing in this boasted " prudence," other than 
the tithing of herbs, while the Aveightier matters of the law» 
justice, mercy, and the tear of God are neglected. That any 
sane man believes it to be more heniously sinful in the sight 
of God to dance, or to use an organ in (lie public worship, 
than to take up arms and inaugurate war against a free, con- 
stitutional government, we shall believe, when we shall see a 
man swallow a camel, and then choice on a gnat. 

The reply to our suggestions is stereotyped, — " VV'e want no 
mingling ot politics with religion — we Nvant no politics in 
the pulpit." So we say, and with all possiide emphasis. 
Let us have no homilies on finance, tree trade, internal improve- 
ment, reconstruction, the right of sutTrage, the boundaries of 
Executive, Legislative, or Judicial authority, States rights, etc., 
etc.; but let no man tall GoOJs loord politic'. We say noth- 
ing here on the right or the necessity ot secession in 1861 ; 
but we do sny, that according to the plain tcacliing of the 
New Testament, the disciples of Christ, who engaged directly 
or indirectly in the late insurrection against the govertiment 
of the United States, are guilty before God of the gravest 
crimes. 

The relation of the American pulpit to civil affairs calls lor 
calm and thorough discussion; meanwhile, we might well 
suppose that thoso in Kentucky who ju-otest most earnestly 
against "' political preaching," would be a little cautious in 
their denunciations. Did their co-operants m rebellion in the 
South, hesitate to •' preach politics " before or during the war ? 
For years the southern pulpits rung with the glory and divin- 
ity ot Slavery, and the right of revolution. Gov. Perry, of 
South Carolina, charges the late civil war mainly to three 
classes — politicians, editors and ministers; and our recollec- 
tion is, that he gives the preeminence in the bad work to the 
ministers. They did certainly employ tiieir iervid eloquence 
during the war, to fan the sectional i)rejndices of their people 
into a flame, and to keep them burning. PLven some of those 
ministers who went from Kentucky to the South or to Canada 
during the war, did not hesitate to speak for Slavery and the 
rebellion tiiere, and for secession before tJieir departure. We 
have, besides, conclusive evidence, that however averse some 
Kentucky Christians may now be to having the pulpit pro- 
faned by what they falsely call pohti.-al preaching, they would 



u 

have been easily reconciled to the profanation, liad Gen. 
JBragg held the State for the " Southern Confederacy." Hope- 
iul iDcginnings were made in that direction, even during his 
short stay with us in 1802. More recently, too, some of these 
anti-political preachers found it convenient and expedient, 
and no doubt '"'- prudent^'' to signalize with religious services, 
the exhumation and re interment of the remains of certain 
guerrillas, executed under military order, in retaliation for the 
murder oi peaceful citizens. Allusion is made to these mat- 
ters with extreme reluctance, but under an irrepressible con- 
viction of duty. He who fails to see that the expressed horror 
ol political preaching among us, is shallow atFectation — is 
easily deceived. It is a device of Satan to spike the artillery 
of God. Away with it! The ll\ithful minister must declare 
the whole counsel ot God, though it condemn himself and his 
hearers together. lie must, for instance, expound the teach- 
ing of the Bible in relation to matrimony, when the time shall 
come, even through a ijolitical party, to secure the vote of 
Utah, shall declare itself in favor of polygamy, and other 
domestic and social abominations of Mormonism. No doubt, 
such minister will be duly denounced as a politicTil preacher. 
In a word, '• Whatever things are true, whatever things are 
honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, 
whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good 
report," Avithin the meaning and purpose of God's word, are 
not only legitimatt," themes of pulpit discussion, but the min- 
ster of Jesus Christ is solemnly bound to teach and to enlorce 
them, and to oppose; and to rebuke whatever is opposed to 
them, whether the things so opposed be political or not. 

But in the thiivl place : the Christian people, to whose course 
we have taken exception, not only took part in a most un- 
righteous war, — not only have they approved or excused the 
needless enormities which characterized it, but they have pro- 
scribed, maligned and persecuted every preacher whose views 
of duty to his country, to his race, and to his Redeemer, 
caused him resolutely and uncompromisingly to oppose the 
rebellion and to actively aid his constitutional government — 
and this, noth withstanding such preachers may not have spoken 
one rcord pro or con^ in, the pulpit. Ofi the subject of the war^ 
from its bujinning till its close. 

The reply is — "Loyal men are not proscribed. A. B. C. 
and D. are loyal, and no one objects to their preaching." 
These " loyal '• brethren, who are acceptable to rebel churches, 
have, most likely, thought it "prudent" not to vote since the 
year I860 ; and in general, their whole course in relation to the 
war, clid much more in aid ot the insurrection, than for tho 



15 

■salvation of an imperilled nation. They have found it " pru- 
dent " to condemn " whatever was wrong'on both sides," tak- 
ing special care to say about as much against the one party as 
against the other. 

Discerning rebels understood the policy of this class of men, 
and availed themselves of their effective co-operation. Preach- 
ers, who, since 1863, have spoken no liarsh word of the rebel- 
lion, not even condemning Andersonville and Fort Pillow, 
but who, during the same time, have heaped upon the United 
States government and those who upheld it, every opprobrium, 
might well be acceptable to " rebels." As things actually 
were in Kentucky, they were able to do more, and did more 
ior the rebellion, than the original secessionists. A few of 
these "loyal preachers," have recovered their standing by 
simply denouncing the Missouii preachers' oath. Tired of 
social and ecclesiastical ostracism, they eagerly availed them- 
selves of that opening to the hearts of those whom their loy- 
alty had offended, Tliey have found their reward, 

"It is only the decided, out-spoken loyal preachers, — those 
who voted and otherwise showed a deep interest in the results 
of the war, that we proscribe," say some. In reply, we ask a 
single question: Do these brethren condemn equally, those 
who ^r^acAe^^ secession in Kentucky during the war, and who, 
leaving the State for Canada or the Confederacy, preached 
openly there in behalf of slavery, secession, and rebellion? 
What shocking insincority must the answer to this question 
disclose ? We forbear to press it. It might be well lor the 
parties involved to remember, that "an unjust balance is an 
abomination to the Lord." It is very clear to all, that the 
hostility of our " rebel " brethren to " preachers who dabble 
in politics," is determined altogether by the kind of politics 
in which they " dabble." 

We ask then, further, that Christians shall at once cease to 
persecute and proscribe loyal ministers, and that they no 
longer visit the alleged sins of loyal fathers upon the heads of 
their innocent women and children. We demand also, that 
ministers who can neither be coaxed nor bribed into silence 
<;oncerning the sin of the late rebellion, shall be allowed, as 
well as the " prudent " and the disloyal ministers, to occupy 
the pulpits, and to preach to all who may wish to Jiear"them, 
according to their own convictions of duty and propriety. To 
this proposition the reply would be : "Such proceedings would 
Jesuit in division." Indeed! And is Christian union then to 
be maintained by inhibiting the discussion of any grave ques 
.tion about which there may exist differences ai faith. What 
is such union worth? 



16 

It would be M'ell, meanwhile, on many accounts, for some 
of those who seem willing to ignore whole sections of the 
New Testament, m order to secure harmony in churches, to 
call to mind the former times. The Baptists of Kentucky, 
forty years ago, held, or were supposed to hold, an- erroneous 
theory of conversion, and to have failed in their apprehension 
ot the design of Christian baptism, and of some other matters, 
more or less clearly revealed in tiie Bible. Did our " Reiorm- 
ers " of that day. some of whom still survive, hesitate to preach 
their views of conversion and baptism, lestthe Baptist clmirches 
should he divided? The legs of the lame are not equal. By 
the persistent i>reacliing of '■ the vicivs of the Reformers," — 
and that, not in the mildest and most winning tone — perhaps 
half the Baptist churches m Kentucky %oere divided ; and this 
too, notwithstanding the Baptists were then and are now, 
regarded as Oliristians by those who caused their division. 
" But, tlien, the ' Reformers ' pi-eached the truth." Be it so. 
Is not the 13th chapter of Romans truth ? and does it not 
convict all Christians who %oiUin(jly^ in any inay^ and to any 
extent.^ participated in the late insurrection against the United 
States, of most heinous sin against God? Have the Baptist 
theories, right or wrong, resulted in great evil to society. It 
is, doubtless, w^ell for us all, that the grace of God which brings 
salvation, is not circumscribed by our theological diagrams. 
The Baptists are still with us, and like the restof us, wdth their 
good and their not-good, are struggling fairly abreast of other 
Christian people, for the "crown of righteousness.''' Peace 
be with them, and with the Israel of God. 

But " the Reformers preach the truth." Be it so, we still 
reply ; and is not this truth — " Whatever ye would that men 
should do to you, do ye even so to them -' ? and has this any 
conceivable application to our treatment of our late slaves, 
who are here and free, by no agency of their own ? What 
have we even attempted to do ibr tiieir conversion to God — 
their elevation to higher planes of spiritual life, and of social 
life among themselves? Some who have feebly attempted 
this, have been denounced, shunned, maligned ; others have 
been mobbed, without any voice of protest from any pulpit in 
the State. Meetinghouses have been refused, that w^ ere other- 
wise unused, that these poor people might not be instructed in 
the duties incident to their changed condition. In the mean- 
time, no discussion of any matter, nor any allusion to any 
matter, that can possibly disturb the equanimity oi those who 
desired the destruction of the nation, and who still desire its 
destruction, is to be tolerated. Such is the decision of ''the 
elders." And this is Christian union, alas ! It may be a 



17 

Jeague with Death and a covenant with Hell, but Christian 
union, it is not. Besides, it is a loud, practioal, and despotia 
pi'otest against the most fundamental principle of the " Refw 
mationT' And do those erring people of God, who thus pro- 
test, expect pennanently to hold in abeyance, the discussion 
of great questions that lie at the very basis of all morality ? 
As well attempt to stop an eruption ot Vesuvius with a hand- 
ful of feathers, as to arrest discussion by the cry of "divi- 
sion in churches." Churches that reluse to hear the truth of 
God, need not fear division, nor even annihilation — something 
much more to be dreaded than either, or both, impends. 

If we have read history to any purpose, we have learned 
that great social revolutions are preceded and followed by 
discussions of great principles — principles that lie at the foun- 
dations of states and ot churches. This is an ordination of 
Providence by which progressive nations advance to higher 
levels of intellectual, social and moral life. Let us, then, have 
lull and free discussion, conducted in meekness and gentleness, 
in a spirit of forbearance and long suffering ; and let the word 
of the Lord prevail — '• yea, let God be true, and every man a 
liar." 

One plea often urged in vindication of the rebellion, is ot 
so remarkable a character, as to demand a passing notice. 
Were it not presented by men " professing godliness," we 
should regard it as simply the offspring of irreverent, if not 
blasphemous unbelief. "■ You ot the loyal party," those "men 
of God," are accustomed to say, " regard the results of the 
rebellion as salutary. Slavery is abolished, at least, and for 
this, you ought to be thankful to those who inaugurated and 
carried on the insurrection." On the same ground, then, the 
chief priests and elders, who through envy, accused the 
Saviour of the w^orld before Pilate, and even Pilate himself, 
who through fear of the mob, wrested judgment, and "deliv- 
ered Jesus to be crucified," are entitled to the gratitude of the 
human race ! Could a more appalling illustration of the 
danger ot trifling with truth be found, than this case presents? 
It is the prerogative of an infinite and merciful Providence, 
to make the wrath of man to praise him, while he restrains 
the remainder; it is His to bring good out of evil, and thus 
prevent our race from rushing at ojice upon irremediable 
rum; but of him who shall, on this account, make a ment of 
sin, and claim the right to " do evil that good may come," an 
Apostle declares, that "his damnation is just." 

The seeds of all that is most conservative, — of all that is 
best in American civilization, crossed the ocean in the May- 
flower ; that is to say, an unflinching faith in the Bible, as 



18 

being a revelation of God's will to man, and as containing the 
rule of the final judgment that is to be passed upon every in- 
dividual of the human race, by the Creator himself. We may 
deride, if we will, this stern faith of the Puritans, their confi- 
dence, of the old Hebrew type, in the providence of God ; we 
may make ourselves merry over their " grave and exaggerated 
piety," but as our people recede from what was central in 
their faith, to that extent do they render insecure their liber- 
ties, whether civil or religious. We steadfastly believe that 
our cherished liberties can be assured but in one way, and 
that is, by the faithful exhibition of the morality and religion 
of the Bible, by means of a faithful living ministry, and by 
the press. We should be thankful, that the most sacred 
duties of the ministry, are concurrent with the dictates of 
the loftiest and purest patriotism. Without Protestant Chris- 
tianity, in its most distinctive elements^ we may have some- 
thing like an exaggerated Mexico, or a French Republic, but 
the great, free Republic of America, we can not have. The 
foundation of Protestantism is the Bible, including the 13th 
chapter of Romans, — and nothing but the Bible, fairly inter- 
preted and applied, in all its vast range, to all the serious 
affairs of human life, domestic, social, political, — the applica- 
tion of its principles and explicit statutes to every question of 
human duty and privilege. We may apply to our own be- 
loved country, what a great writer, Isaac Taj'lor, has so elo- 
quently said of lilngland : 

"To a community within which the gospel has widely dif- 
fused itself, through the opinions, habits and affections of the 
mass, and in which it intensely affects the moral energies of 
thousands, the ceasing to be Christian would be a dissolution, 
political, social, domestic: it would be — national death. 

" In this country, every institution that now fortifies and 
adorns our social condition, has been constructed on the sup- 
position of a flow and pressure in one direction ; that is, 
toward what is, or is assumed to be true in religion and pure 
in morals — every slope in the political building is adapted to 
this and to no other movement of the waters — should they 
turn, there is not an embankment which must not yield, and 
add its fragments to the general ruin. America and her afflu- 
ence at home and her influence throughout the world, and her 
bright cluster of honors ; America and her pure domestic 
affections and her home felicities ; her generous temper and 
her wide philanthropy ; America and her power and her em- 
bellishments, we may be assured, is fated along with the 
gospel. The waters of the sanctuary stand breast high around 
ber, and should they fall of^ she herself falls to rise no more." 



19 

These are significant words, and if we experiment recklessly 
with our duties as citizens, to our cost, we shall find them pro- 
phetic. Indeed, my brethren, I can not regard an American 
Christian as having done his whole duty to God, who renders 
to his rulers vi mere passive obedience. If our free institu- 
tions are to be accej)ted as the gift of a merciful Providence, 
then are all God's people sacredly bound to do all in their 
power for the conservation and perpetuity of those institu- 
tions. 

We protest, then, against the course of our "rebel'' Chris- 
tian brethren, on the following grounds : 

1. They engaged in a terrible insurrection against civil 
rulers, to whom, by the most explicit statutes of the New 
Testament, they were commanded to render honor and 
obedience. 

2. In the prosecution of that insurrection, they perpetrated 
tlie most atrocious deeds, or they upheld those who did per- 
petrate them, and refuse now to hear any rebuke of the 
offenders — offenders, not merely against the laws of God, but 
against the instincts of civilized humanity. 

3. They not only decline repentance, or to hear any call to 
repentance, but, glorying in what they have done, they ac- 
tively persecute every minister whom they can not subsidise, 
or whoso silence in regard to the enormous sin of the late 
rebellion, they can not command. 

4. They aver tiiat this persecution of loyal men, is inflicled 
on the ground that the persecuted ones "had too much to do 
with i)olitics," while they actively support and cheerfully and 
liberally patronize men who fled from the State to the Confed- 
eracy or to Canada, that they might more effectively work in 
this "politics," thus demonstrating, even to themselves, the 
litter untruthfulness of their averment. 

5. By the foregoing proceedings, the churches of the Kefor- 
mation have repudiated the most fundamental principle to be 
found in their protest against the divisions of the Christian 
world — a principle without which the proposed lleformation 
is an impertinence and a blatant humbug. The principle is 
this : The whole law of Jesus Christ, as revealed in the New 
Testament, without addition, and without substraction, is to 
be taught and enforced, whether the law relate to social and 
•domestic duties, or to the duties of the Christian citizen to 
the rulers of the State ; whether it relate to fiiith, to baptism, 
to the remission of sins, to the order of worship in churches, 
or to any other matter that involves the agency of man. We 
here affirm, that those who have committed themselves to the 
theoretical and practical advocacy of this comprehensive 



20 

principle, making it the most distinctive element in a great 
religious movement, do now practically disallow it, in order 
to shield themselves or their cause from the condemnation of 
God's law. 

May we not, without impropriety, considering the peril to 
which the very toundations of our plea for reform are being 
subjected, declare a readiness to meet any champion of 
modern "prudence,'' in public debate, on the issues above pre- 
sented ? 

In all the churches iVom the Ohio to the capes of Florida, 
and from the Potomac to the Kio Grande, the testimony of 
Jesus against needless insurrection is silenced. No, thi^nks be 
to God, this statement is not true, in Kentucky, at least, a 
considerable body of Methodists have nobly determined to 
stand by God's truth. They quietly and in some instances, at 
greai cost, withdrew from their brethren, who, as they believed, 
" walked disorderly." God is with his own truth, and will 
give thein victory. And still again, — forty Presbyterian 
ministers, constituting the Synod of Kentucky, adhere to the 
grand, patriotic and Christian Deliverances of the General 
Assembly, in relation to the sin of needless civil insurrection. 
Of these forty ministers,isthe venerable, heroic, and patriotic 
Eobt. J. Breckinridge, D.D. Who can recall the great services 
of this eminent minister and man, to the churches, to the 
state, and to the Eepublic, in the days of peril through which 
all have passed, without desiring that it were his, to speak 
blessings upon him, in the name of the poor and the down- 
trodden of earth, and in the name of the Lord. 

We take heart then, for the testimony of the Bible, on 
questions involving the very existence of libertj- of any kind, 
is not to be utterly disallowed in Kentucky. It is alleged, 
however, that, this action of " loyal" Methodists and Presbyte- 
rians, has led to scliism in their several denominations. Sup- 
pose it has, who are the schismatics, tho?e who adhere to the 
word of the Lord, or those who reject it ? For let it be dis- 
tinctly remembered, that those Christians who remained loyal 
during all the sad days of trial and darkness did so, in many 
ca.ses, for eoyisclence saJce, as well as from patriotic impulses ; 
and they have never hesitated to point their " rebel" brethren 
to the divine testimony. But who ever heard of any one 
attempting to prove from the Bible, that he was under obliga- 
tion to take up arms for the overthrow of the government of 
tlie United States ? Who ? 

The churches of the Keformation, congratulate one another 
on the fact, that no divisions can occur among them. This is 
true, and for the very sufficient reason, that ihey never were 



21 

unite-d. It is quite an easy tiling to have peace among parties 
that have nothing whatever to do with each other. The 
" rebel " Christian Churches of Kentucky are united with the 
loyal churches ot other states, about as much as the "Man in 
the Moon "is united with the Emperor of Mexico; and this 
boasted union can be mantained, .iust as long as the parties 
are kept apart, and no 1 inger. /ndiridvah from loyal and 
from disloyal sections, have met in societies and conventions 
occasionally since IStJO, and it has been with no little difficulty 
that the radical and mhoUy irreconcilable differences between 
"loyalty" and "disloyalty," have been so ignored as to prevent 
disruption in these Societies. All earnest and truly loyal men 
feel that the rebellion was sinlul in the very highest degree, 
whether the parties oflending, did so in ignorance or otherwise 
and much as they may mourn over the evils that have been 
wrought, and reluctant as they doubtless are to see division, 
still, they remember that divisions are inevitable until right 
shall triumph over might, until truth shall triumph over false- 
hood. For the divisions, those are responsible who depart 
from, and pervert the ways of the Lord. 

We concede the impossibility of dividing the ehureJies of 
the Reformation, for tlie reasons stated, namely : they never 
were organically united. But does this prove that the mem 
i«^r,s' of these churches are luiited ? Our boasting is not wise. 
But again : williont the most sinful and shameful sacrifice of 
'privGifies there can not be real Christian union between those 
men and women in Kentucky, who, during the progress of 
the late civil war and after its close, stood by the Bible and 
their country, and those who disregarded the one, that they 
might v.age war on the other, ilhristia.n vnion must be in. 
truth, if at all. On naked questions of right and -wrong— 
ot truth and error, there can with men of principle be no com 
promise. "'Material interests may be compromised to the 
utmost, but moral principle can iK'ver be compromised — it 
can only be surrendered." The loyal Christians of Kentucky 
can " sell out " if they will, but they would do well to remem- 
ber, that the fruit of the tree of Hie is not to be obtained by 
stealth ; and that we can neither seciu-e the favor of God, nor 
promote the welfare of men by hypocrisy. Before there can 
be Christian union between tlie two parties to the late civil 
war, the "rebels" must repent, or the "loyal" men must 
abandon the most sacred principles. While the actual condi- 
tion of aflairs calls for humiliation and prayer, — the hearty 
conlession of sinfulness on the part of all — the most sorrow- 
ing forbearance of all towards all — the indulgence of deep, 
heart-breaking regrets over what has happened t<; disturb the 



22 

harmony of God's people — for consuming anxieties and yearn- 
ings for the reunion of hearts — for mournings which nothing 
but this reunion can stay; yet must we not forget that he 
who relents toward triumphant and defiant vice, instead of 
showing mercy thereby, does but betray justice, and truth, 
and right. Alas, we are in a great strait ; " but let us now fall 
into the hands of the Lord ; for his mercies are great; and 
Jet us not fall into tlie hand of man." O, Lord, undertake for 
us, and send us speedy deliverance out of all our perplexing 
and sorrow-working complications. 

Scattered minorities that cease to be aggressive soon dis- 
appear. Those Christians, therefore, who still acquiesce in the 
justness of our present statements and reflections, will have 
need of prompt and prayerful activity, if they are to save 
themselves and their children from the contagion of princi- 
ples that will prove to be fruitful seeds of innumerable woes 
to the church, to our country, and to the world. Revolutions 
and insurrections are born of opinions and theories that can 
not be refuted by the sword, could we even think it lawful 
to make the attempt. Free institutions can not be maintained 
by force — they must stand in the convictions of the people; 
and in our opinion the perpetuity of our grand and free civ- 
ilization is to be sought through ilie Bible and the Church,^ 
rather than through political compacts and conventions. Let 
politicians and statesmen perform their work as they may, 
unless the church can furnish the state with men who will 
" obey magistrates and be ready to do every good work," our 
present social and political organizations must give way. Con- 
victions such as these, may serve to explain our position. We 
do and sufi'er for the maintainance of great principles. Do our 
"prudent" brethren expect that vice will, unopposed, sponta- 
neously correct itself? Where, in universal history, will an 
instance of such self-resignation be found ? No, no, — " evil men 
and seducers shall wax worse and worse," if left to them- 
selves . We are therefore, charged before God and the Lord 
Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at. his 
appearing and his kingdom, to preach the word; to be in- 
stant in season, and out of seasoji ; to reprove, rebuke, and 
exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. God has made 
the way of the loyal Christian exceedingly plain. It may be, 
lor us here in Kentucky, a very difficult way, Dut the true and 
the fearless, by God's help, will walk in it. 

We may not decline to mention the young peojole of our 
State. How have they decided in relation to the rebellion 
we all have so many reasons to deplore? Ninet}'^ per cent of 
them, we judge, of both sexes, yielding to the solicitations of 



23 

social success, and to other enticements, have ranged them- 
eelves on the side of revolution. This is true of all the young 
people of the late slave holding states. The reasons of this 
fearful iact are obtrusively obvious, and need not be stated. 
Should not loyal Christians hasten to do what may yet be 
done, to turn the tide of their young affections toward their 
whole country, by teaching them that submission to legitimate 
civil authority is submission to God? Unless we can do this, 
be assured that the poison alreadj*- inlused-into their hearts, 
will, at no distant day, prove tlie direful spring of innumerable 
woes to them and to generations alter them — woes greater 
than those through which we have just passed; for, if we are 
to believe our public journals of all sections, when the floods 
of civil war shall have swept again over our fair land, it will 
be as when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire and 
brimstone out of heaven from the Lord. It would be difficult 
to exaggerate the importance, every way, of this feature of 
tlie general subject, or to over-estimate the weiglit of respon- 
sibility now resting on loyal Kentucky Christians. Shall 
they be tound equal to the emergency? or shall " prudence" 
rule the hour? "Prudence" that keeps "politics out of 
churches," by alllowing "rebels" to keep every loyal minis- 
ter out, whose cowardly ancl carnal compliances have not 
made him an efficient co-worker with them. We speak plain- 
ly, but would not give oflense. Men are often deceived con- 
cerning their motives, and if this " prudence " is not a device 
of Satan, he has employed none m modern times. 
* " Mankinri are unco weak. 
And little to be trusted, 
If self the wavering balance shake, 
'Tis rarely right adjusted." 

Another consideration demands a passing notice. Is love 
of one's native land henceforth to be imputed to a man for 
sm ? Is he to be esteemed criminal, in whose heart the flag 
of his country avv'akens a generous and patriotic enthusiasm? 
Must one sutler social ostracism for teaching his children to 
sing "The Star Spangled Banner?" Are loyal Christians of 
Kentucky, for the sake of a most false and scandalous pretense 
of Christian union, to be cutoff from ail sympathy Avith what 
is grand and glorious is our history as a nation, and debarred 
from any mention of our beautiful and patriotic traditions? 
Heaven forbid ! As a nation we could suffer but one greater 
loss, namely: the Bible and Proteslant Christianity. 

Let no man scoff at patriotism, as though it, were not a 
Christian, as well as a mere manly virtue. Out of love of 
country, which is native to the human soul, God has wrought 



WCV S3 1904 



013 787 342 4 # 24 



the grandest results in tlie history of our race. Beautiiul, and 
even divine is that sentiment which binds the Laplander to 
his inhospitable abode, and reconciles the Italian to his dwell- 
ing place on the trembling sides ot Vesuvius. In all climes, 
amongst all peoples, doubtless, is found the sentiment, if not 
tlie Kong, " There is no place like home." We seriously sus- 
pect that the man who aflects to like all countries and all 
peoples equally, really loves none. And does not patriotism 
show itself even in those through whom God has sent messa- 
ges to the world ? "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right 
hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my 
tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth ; if I prefer not Jerusa- 
lem above my chief joy." Thus sang the captive Jews as 
they wandered disconsolate " by the rivers of Babylon." For 
the pious Jew still, there is no land so fair as tiie land 
of Jeshurun ; no river so beautiful as the Jordan, no moun- 
tains so grand as the " mountains round about Jerusalem." 
It was over Jerusalem too, that Jesus, weeping, uttered 
that lamentation, which has, we may presume,. taken its 
place among the anthems of the immortals, and for ages 
Ijast been sung in heaven. Patriotism, be assured, is near 
akin to the highest form of philanthropy. 

We have attempted to discharge our duty — a duty, the 
heaviest ever before devolved upon us. Kight glad should 
we have been, had some one older and abler taken the cross 
from our shoulders. It is now to be seen wiiether or not 
there remains in our people any tidelity to the principles of 
both civil and religions action, which they have in various 
ways professed. For myself!, my brethren, may I say, that my 
hostility to the course pursued by them against whom we 
this day protest, is uncompromising. I might be willing to 
die, could this restore the old friendships, — the lost union, the 
Ibrmer love; but I humbly trust I roovld die, ratlier than 
i:;amble lor place and profit, making truth and righteousness 
the cards. 

Go then, to life's great labors in the fear of God, and in the 
love of man. While you stand firmly by your most sacred 
convictions of truth and right, remember that the same au- 
thority that ordained obedience to the civil ruler, and in tfie 
same document, ordained also, that if your enemy hunger you 
shall feed him, if lie thirst you shall give him drink — that you 
shall overcome evil with good. 

In the language of Kentucky's greatest living son I close ; 
'• Every {v\w man must stand lu his lot, and do what seems to 
be his duty in church and state, as God enables him. God is 
above all, and if he be lor us, it is little matter who is against us. 



yBRARY OF CONGRESS M 



013 787 342 4 



HoUinger 

pH8.5 

Mill Run F3.1 955 



